May 16, 2012

Ed Morrissey:
"A month ago, the combined haul from the Barack Obama campaign and the DNC came to $53 million, a level that didn’t keep pace with 2008 Democratic fundraising, but still gave Team O some bragging rights for the improvement over a $45 million February. According to their announcement this morning, the Obama/DNC effort couldn’t even match February’s numbers, let alone March’s:

The Obama campaign and the Democratic committees that support it raised $43.6 million in April, campaign manager Jim Messina announced in an online video on Wednesday.
With 98 percent of all donations less than $250, more than 437,000 people donated to the campaign, including roughly 169,500 first time donors. The average contribution was just more than $50.

This comes as the President has gone on a record-smashing fundraising schedule, which seemingly is now demonstrating the law of diminishing returns. Don’t forget that the final cash tally to Team O will likely be around 75% of the overall number, probably around $33 million, with the DNC getting the rest. He will undoubtedly do better in May, thanks to the $15 million haul on George Clooney’s basketball court, but this shows how badly Obama needed the cash infusion.
It also explains a couple of initiatives from Democrats reported by Politico this morning. The first relates indirectly to Obama, a convention fundraising scheme called “Super-O-Rama,” which may raise money too far into the schedule to be effective:

The kitschy name is for a massive fundraising push at the national convention in Charlotte, where Democrats aim to woo elusive big donors with parties featuring live music, open bars and mingling with “senior Democratic policy leaders,” according to a fundraising appeal.

Democrats hope the events will lead to a massive cash infusion for three super PACs that have struggled to pull in the big checks necessary to compete with GOP outside advertising juggernauts like the Karl Rove-conceived Crossroads outfits and the Koch brothers-linked Americans for Prosperity.

But the plan isn’t perfect. The Democratic National Convention is just two months before the general election — too late to spend any money raised there on ads, some Democrats worry. Plus, conventions do not typically lend themselves to the type of one-on-one meetings where mega donors usually sign six- and seven-figure checks...." (Read more? Click title)

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